Shugo Soul My Guardian Soul
by webidolchiu94
Summary: Amu is...a new student at Shibusen. The second they meet her, well things change a bit at the Academy. But is it for better, or for worse? A few OCs and lots of strange situations. Did I also mention future Maka fanservice? Oh, and it takes place after Spartoi is created. Rated for language, nothing else...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Maka and Soul Have Characters?

I guess it was like any other day, right? Then again, there is no truly normal day for us Shibusen students; especially not _me_ anymore.

A six on the dot my alarm clock went off, buzzing and ringing and jumping all over my nightstand. I opened my eyes cautiously, just in case it was too bright. I decided I was still tired and closed my eyes again. That clock was becoming annoying after a while, and I didn't want to get up, but trying to ignore the damned thing was turning out to be a feat. So I did what I always do: I punched it.

I don't think that this morning that luck was on my side, 'cause when it landed as usual there was a really loud crack. Or was it more of a shattering sound? Oh well.

_ That doesn't sound good,_ I thought.

When I opened my eyes all the way to check, who else did I see other than that sex-kitten Blair laying on top of me? So she was trying to seduce me again, eh? I've got a few words for this stupid cat, and they're definitely _not_ ones that you should say on front of toddlers, or your mother. Frowning, I tried to keep my composure.

"Blair," I said calmly, despite my nose gushing blood. "Please get off."

"But Soul~" she whined, wrapping her arms around my neck. It was hard to breathe, my face was being smothered by her ballon-like boobs. "You never-ever play with Blair!"

Irritated, I pushed her away slightly, but it was difficult because Blair's stronger than she looks. A particularly vicious snarl was forming on my lips. That kind of frown wasn't hard to pull off considering my "unique" teeth; as Maka describes them meeting looking like a zig zag.

"Unless you want another one of your souls eaten," I growled. "Get OFF." In a puff of wispy purple smoke she transformed into a cat.

"Meanie." She gracefully jumped off the bed and walked out of my room. Finally she was gone. I sighed in relief that Maka wasn't here to see—oh great, I had forgotten about my clock! _Shit._

I rushed to the spare parts splayed in the honey-colored floorboards. I guess these days I don't know my own strength. From the looks of it, the clock had bounced off the wall opposite my bed and landed in the corner of the room. In pieces. _Just frickin' perfect. _Maka _made_ that clock for me from a little kit she bought in a boutique, around the same time she sewed that awesome headband with my name on it. Now that first present was broken.

And then there were footsteps in the hall. Maka, most likely. There went my cool morning.

"SOUL!" called my Meister, whistling as she banged the empty frying pan with a wooden spoon. "Here, Breakfast!"

What was I—a DOG? Sure sounded like it, the way she was calling me.

"SOUL?"

I jumped. "I'll be there in a minute, just don't come in!" Could my tone be any more F-ing obvious? I tried to salvage the broken pieces of what was once a timepiece. Maka would definitely be pissed off if she knew it was broken. When I heard her hand resting on the doorknob, I jumped again.

"Why not?" she said. Curiosity making her draw out the 'why' in that whiny way she has of asking when things seem strange.

"I'm in my _boxers_, woman."

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "So? We've all seen you in your boxers—ever since the exam."

Man, she's dumb sometimes. "So~I need my privacy."

Maka was silent for a long while. "Soul are you doing something indecent? With Blair?"

What the hell did she mean by "indecent"? "She's not here, Maka!"

"S-so you're alone, then?"

"No," I corrected. "You're still here." I dumped the contents in my hands into my book-bag. "G-go away." Great, I was stuttering. Also _not cool. _

_ "Fine, _grumpy." Her footsteps seemed to be retreating. All of a sudden the door burst open, and I almost shit my pants.

"Holy Crap!" I yelled, flailing, falling to the floor onto my ass. That demon of a Meister I call "Maka" was looming over me, grinning. That woman is to be the DEATH OF ME!

"Just making sure," she said triumphantly before skipping down the hall in her fluffy white slippers. Most likely she was imagining that she was flying. Lately, she was obsessed with becoming an angel. Darn her and her stupid "special soul" Gori Gori or something another, that can apparently can make us fly or whatever. Me, I'm not really that big a fan of—heights so yeah. I'm still skeptical, we failed miserably that first time.

Y'know what I've realized? We've been working all this time to make me into a Death Scythe. Now that I am, I don't feel any different. And now that I think about it, should I act any differently? I always feel like I'm acting anyways.

Well, I finally got dressed in the Spartoi uniform and grabbed some breakfast before I drove Maka and me to school. When we arrived three minutes late, Maka yelled her usual rant in my ear, and we hurried to our seats.

"Now," said Stein since we interrupted him. "As I was saying, we have a new student." He turned to the door. "You can come in now."

The door slowly creaked open. Great, it was probably probably some peppy loser who thinks they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. We have one of those already, it's named Black*Star.

Through the door walked a slight girl with short pink hair. A clump of it was tied into some weird ponytail with a weird red plus-thingy. Her light green eyes weren't as vivid as Maka's and they hung in a bored stare I'd compare to Kid's. She was dressed mostly in black, with red plaid leggings and armband. For some reason I thought I saw something move by her hair.

"Make sure to make her feel welcome." Stein said, breaking my thoughts. "Sit next to Soul and Maka."

Next to US? Absolutely perfect, I _have_ to be nice to her now. Though she looked normal enough, might I remind you that "cynical" is my middle name? There's bound to be something about her that'll tick me off. She sat down next to Maka, and of course Maka greets her all happy and junk.

"Hello! I'm Maka Albarn."

"Nice to meet'cha," she mumbled coolly before looking away.

"So, Amu-cahn." Ah, was that her name, Amu? I wasn't paying attention before to Stein. "Are you a Weapon or a Meister."

Amu looked confused. "Wha? What's that? Weapon, Meister? I've no idea what you're talking about."

Now Maka was the confused one. "What do you mean? Don't you know where you are?"

"M-my parents enrolled m-me here a-after we moved here," she stuttered. "It's bad enough that the place is called D-death City, it creeps me out."

"Seriously?" I said. "Then your parents picked the wrong place to put you. I smirked, showing my teeth.

She shuddered. "Why's that?"

I rolled my eyes. " This is the DWMA, you know, DEATH-Weapon-Meister Academy," overemphasizing the word death was suddenly fun, she flinched at it. "Lord Death runs this place."

Her eyes went wide, and Amu froze. "Sh-shi-shinigami-sama?" she murmured. She turned a bit grey before fainting, landing with a giant _thump._ How fun, another fainter. As if Crona or Kid were much easier to handle, now _another_ scaredy cat.

"What happened?" Stein questioned. His grey eyebrows were curved suspiciously.

"Geez, Soul you didn't have to scare her so much!" whispered Maka to me. She turned to Stein. "It seems that she fainted," Maka said, "After she learned who ran the school."

"Apparently," I continued. "Her parents didn't tell her squat about where she was going. She doesn't even know about Meisters and Weapons."

"That's strange," said Stein. "Bring her to the infirmary and stay with her 'till she wakes up, will ya?"

So we—scratch that, _I _ had to carry her there, and Maka and I waited for, like twenty minutes until she woke up, realized where she was, and started to panic.

"Oi, Maka calm her down," I suggested.

"What can I do?" she asked me, as if she didn't know!

"The book! The book!"

"Oh yeah." An evil smile curled on her lips. Some angel. "Makaaaaa-chop!" A nice, thick phasmology book lodged itself into Amu's head. At least it wasn't me.

"Aiii~" she aid, rubbing her fluffy hair in pain. She was staring at the air though one open eye. "Really, they do?" she whispered to herself.

"Hm?" I grunted.

"N-nothing."

"So, what've you decided?" Maka looked to Amu. "Do you want to stay?"

"I've no idea. First of all, what's a Weapon and a Meister?"

"Well..." Maka began to explain the whole thing, including the Death Scythe part. She still looked confused. Maka sighed."Soul, could you demonstrate?"

"You want just my arm, or everything, Maka?"

"The arm's just fine."

Amu _still_ looked confused. Well, until I transformed my arm into that sharp, curved blade that's seen who-knows-how-many battles. She kind of yelped, but didn't faint. This time at least.

"So, you want to stay?" Maka asked. Amu took a hesitant look around the room until finally she said yes.

"I don't think there's any other school anyway," Amu observed.

And so another day went by monotonously. How boring. Now that I think about it, my life has become as important as crap. Death Scythe, so what? I hate to admit it, but that bastard Giriko may be right. Maybe it's my own fault. I mean, with me acting cool all the time, do I have _any_ fun anymore? Maybe I need to act a different kind of cool, huh? Everyone else just says I've become more mature, but I just think I've become more boring, is all. A lot of people could say that I'm acting myself, but I wish I really knew what "acting myself" was.

I don't think I knew it then, but the next day would certainly turn out to be very interesting—to my great surprise, and humiliation.

* * *

***The Next Day***

So , when I woke up, I thought: Just another day of "being cool" and people crowding around Maka and me talking about us. And of course hordes of stupid screaming girls pushing their idiotic love notes onto me. But when I flung the sheets aside, you wouldn't guess what I found. Or maybe you can.

We-he-ell. I found some thing peculiar: Not one, but two eggs. Now mind you, I was half asleep.

_ Eggs,_ I thought. _Mmm, food. Hungry. _But as I stared at them groggily I started to think more clearly. _Eggs are in my bed. Why are they here? _Wait.

"Eggs! What the hell?" It was at this point I started stammering foolishly. "D-d-did w-wh e-egg. Did those come from _me_?" My heart did another double-flip when I heard Maka scream. I jumped down from my nightstand and ran to her bedroom. But of course, first I knocked.

"Maka? You alright?" After a few minutes she spoke.

"Yes Soul." Something was up. I think I had an idea, though.

"Maka," I didn't know how to say this. "Did you find some...some eggs when you woke up?" She was silent and I thought she hadn't heard me. So I tried to repeat it. "Did you—,"

Suddenly the door banged open so quickly it smacked me in the face so hard my nose burned and my eyes watered in pain. _OW, Ow, OW!_

Maka glared at me. "Do _you _have something to do with this?"

"Well I—,"

"Did _you_ somehow find some crazy way to—,"

I knew where this was going and didn't like it. I silenced her with her own Maka-chop.

"Woah, woah, WOAH," I said, backpedaling the convo. "What're you implying?"

"Well," she said calmly, rubbing her head. "I'm just saying that they didn't teach us about _eggs _in Health class."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

She reddened. "Well, it's just you're—,"

"What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"A guy, and I'm a—,"

"A girl," I finished. "And you think that these eggs are our babies or something?"

"I mean—," she began. I rolled my eyes.

"C'mon Maka, are you a chicken? 'Cause I'm not." I took a breath. "Besides, we'd never—,"

Her eyes exploded into green dinner plates. "OF COURSE NOT YOU PERV!" Her Encyclopedia Britannica smashed into the side of my face.

_ PAIN PAIN PAIN! _"Besides," I said, rubbing my sore injury, "I kind of found some in my bed also."

"R-really?" She glowered at me angrily. "Show them. Prove it."

And so I did.

It was only when we looked at them more closely, that we noticed the deigns on them, like Easter eggs. Mine were pretty interesting, I guess. One was divided into sections, part was like piano keys, the other half looked like a pre-Kishin soul with a fire burning inside it. My other egg looked like it was wrapped in crumpled sheet music, with a jumble of notes and staves printed on it.

But if you think mine were weird, then you should have seen Maka's. She had _three_. The first had a microphone on it with a yellow quarter note next to it. Behind them were red and black swirls. The next one had a, fairy blue soul, but it had like, pigtails maybe? And a halo hovered above the soul. Overlaying the soul and halo was a spiderweb, and the tops and bottoms were dipped in purple. Finally the last egg was the most unorganized. It looked pale brown, with sticker looking symbols: a witch's hat, the moon, an ant, and a log.

Weirdness, right?

So we carefully put the eggs in our book-bags,(I'm not sure how we managed _not_ to break them) and went to school as usual. After that awkward morning, everything else seemed to be going the same as usual...with the exception of that girl Amu tagging along with us. She acts really strange herself. Sometimes she'd whisper to herself during class and laugh at the weirdest times. Maka told me to be nice to her nonetheless, considering how Amu apparently could be a Meister. Maka could see her soul, and it's apparently very strong.

What-ever, I don't really care anymore.

So anyway, as I was saying, things only started to go downhill in gym class. (Doesn't it always?) Black*Star was being a really big jerkass again, testing my patience. He wanted to challenge me to a race, but I kept on refusing.

"Nah, I don't really feel like it," I told him with a sigh, trying my best to look bored and uninterested. (Which wasn't hard because I already was) I looked across the track, where Amu and Maka were sitting on the benches. They were talking and giggling in those annoying as hell high-pitched gossiping voices they often used.

Black*Star beamed at me. "Are you chicken? I wouldn't blame you, no one can go up against the great Black*Star and not feel inferior."

Okay, normally I wouldn't have cared, but lately his gloating was really pissing me off. Sure, Black*Star was a friend, but enough was enough. I wished I was more athletic, so I could wipe that self-righteous grim off his face. But then here was the strange part: In my head I heard a voice. Yes, a voice. Kinda sounded like me, I guess only...well different.

_ Then, _it said, _change from a guy who stands by, acting cool. To a really outspoken athletic, who can beat anyone at school!_ It even rhymed. Neat. I was going crazy in poem-form.

"Alright!" I heard myself say unwillingly. "I'll race you Black*Star be prepared to lose!"

My body moved on its own to the starting lane, where Black*Star and I lined up side by side.

"1, 2, 3, go!" he yelled. And suddenly he was gone, and I to my shock (and horror) was right behind him. As I looked down, I couldn't help but panic. What was I doing? Challenging Black*Star to a race? How did I even expect to win? _IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT!_

But somehow, around the second lap, I caught up. He didn't look worried until the third lap, when I was only then starting to pass him. And by the time I finished the last lap, Black*Star looked devastated. And of course, I collapsed onto the ground in an exhausted heap. I don't think I'd _ever_ run a full mile in such a short time. Maka looked down at me, and I could see her shadowed face against the bright blue of the sky.

"Soul, you feeling okay?"

I nodded, even though I had no idea what just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yes, I know many of you may or may not loathe lyrics in fanfiction. Doesn't it get you so annoyed to see either:

1) blocks and blocks of lyrics and virtually no 'fic

2) lyrics that make no sense and/or aren't part of the story at all (as in, the song isn't playing during the action)

3) just plain old lyrics

Sorry if you hate lyrics period, (though I've been told that I am good at using them) but I had to.

.

In every Heart...awaits Your Angel. ~Michael, Where Angels Come

.

* * *

Chapter Two: An explanation?

A splash echoed in the lunchroom, even though the place was bursting with the noise of students.

_Why? _

Sugary lemonade trickled over soft peach skin and left a sticky film, soaking her hair to the roots. The girl could only stand there, in shock, as the lemon juice from the drink made her eyes water. But then the pain started to kick in, not only from the acidic beverage but the disbelief at such prejudice. Her body shook, more from feelings of worthlessness than anger and stared at the floor. At her feet an overturned plastic cup sat on its side.

_Why can't I just fit in?_

As fast as she could, she ran, without caring who saw the tears spilling over her face. Nothing ever went right, even if she was trying her best. The family she grew up with rejected her, so she had sought refuge at the DWMA. At least being a Meister was something she was good at, other than her failed attempts to fit in with the other Witches.

But even though she was part of one of the most elite squads at the Academy, Spartoi, they still judged her by her wavelength. Like a terrible metronome she could feel the despicable magic pulsing from it steadily as she ran through the cafeteria double doors—a badge of dishonor that was pinned to her heart and left it beating in agony. She knew just what they thought of her, but it wasn't hard to tell.

'_Witch. Witch. Filthy, stinking Witch—you should just die, you're such a bitch.' _

Why couldn't they accept she wasn't evil? She was different from the others.

"Kim!"

Her name meant nothing. She was nothing. Slowly, something inside was breaking, like she was walking on thin ice and the floor was about to give way into a dark pit. It was part of the reason she and Jackie had left Shibusen before they had figured out she was far from human.

"Kim, wait!"

Despite Ox's pleading she wouldn't stop running. Kim knew he meant well but there was only so much he could do for her. Even if he was now her boyfriend, Ox couldn't fight away the entire human race, could he?

_Stupid Ox probably thinks he can…_

"Can't you see it's impossible to accept me!" Kim yelled, gaining more speed and sprinting away from the chaos. Away from the humans, from the pain of being different. She wanted to be normal, to be human, but it was an impossible wish. Nothing could miraculously change the fact that everyone hated her guts. Still sobbing, Kim rounded a corner, slumped to the floor and leaned on the wall, looking upwards to the sky. From out of nowhere, a voice floated to her ears just as Ox caught up with her. A sudden jolt went through her chest, as if her soul were being ripped out.

"_Oh! I can't take no more," _said the voice, wrapping itself around Kim's heart.

"_Her tears are diamonds on the floor…" _

It bonded the lyrics to her sorrow, exploiting her weakness. Something was so familiar about the voice too, as if she had heard it before from someone she knew. It was futile, however, to pinpoint who exactly it was, because her mind was filling with darkness.

"_And her diamonds bring me down," _it sang, reflecting Ox's side of the problem. "_'Cause I can't help her now…"_

Standing on the roof of the school was a one small girl. She mouthed the words to her spell carefully as she surveyed the deterioration of her victim and continued the malicious attack on Kim's heart. She snapped her fingers only once before smiling sadly to herself, wishing that she didn't have to do such a deed.

"Kim, are you okay?" asked Ox. He had seen the blank look in her eye and started to worry. "About them back there, I'll report them to Lord Death, don't worry." When she didn't respond he walked over to the pink haired Meister and knelt down. "Kim?"

"_Oh, She's down in it," sung the voice soothingly, unraveling a dark lullaby._

"_She tried her best and now she can't win it"_

A fuzzy blackness clouded her eyes as her consciousness was obscured by the haze of a damaged dream. It was too late for anyone to stop the process while it was happening.

"KIM!" yelled Ox, shaking her shoulders, but her face was expressionless. Somehow he knew he couldn't save her from going under.

"_It's hard, to see them falling down," _whispered the voice, regret in its tone._"Her diamonds on the ground…"_

* * *

"**Soul's P.O.V"**

So there Maka was, staring at me concerned, and it made me feel terrible. Of course, I already felt horrible because of so much unwilling exercise and the broken clock, but the worry on her face made it feel even worse. It wasn't long before I saw Amu's face appear next to Maka's as well.

_Oh no, the weird girl again, _I thought. _Somebody pick me up and wheel me away before she has another breakdown. _Speaking of which, I really felt like I needed to rest in the Infermary instead of on the dusty, hard ground.

"Soru-kun," said Amu. "I have something to ask." I automatically turned to the sound of my name and looked up to the new girl. I wasn't expecting what happened next.

My brain went nuts then.

Maka also gaped at her, mirroring my feelings of confusion.

"Huh?" said my Meister before I could.

"Who, wh-what are those things?" I yelled spastically, jumping to my feet. My legs wobbled like wet noodles but at least they held me steady.

"Huh?" said Amu, since I was pointing in her direction. Three things that looked like little girls or dolls or **something** floated near her head. One was pink, wore a tennis outfit, and held pom poms for crying out loud. (Which, at this point I wanted to do from such a weird day.) Another was blue; she was dressed in shorts, long-sleeves, and a vest and held a small satchel. The last was green, had a short puffy green dress with an apron, and all three had hats to match their respective outfits.

"He can see us!" said the pink one, shaking her pom poms kind of excited.

Maka perked up when she did. "Did you see that?" she asked. "So cute!" She made an attempt to grab one, but they merely floated away from her grasp.

Amu followed my wild stare. "You can see my charas?"

"Y-yes?" I said, unsure if I should be locked into an asylum or not.

She gave me an embarrassed smile and blushed. Amu scratched her cheek with one finger and looked down. "Then I guess it answers my question, _aheh_…"

"Which was…?" I was completely lost. I don't know _jack_. Maybe I was somewhere in the Death City Mental Health Facility rocking in a corner. Or worse: I was in a daze of insanity working Customer Service at The Gap. The second was less appealing than the first.

"Are you talking about the eggs?"

"Yeah! Exactly! Do you still have them?"

I nodded. Earlier, before class I had left them all in my duffle bag that I used for gym. We all went behind the bleachers to collect the darned things. I reached inside and pulled out anything egg-shaped; making sure Maka wouldn't see the unholy remains of my deceased clock. Three eggs and two open eggshells are _not_ a good sign I take it. Mine that had the fireball on it, and Maka's with the music note—they were cracked open and there was no knowing what would happen. What the frick was in those shells anyway?

The Blue doll gave Amu a concerned look as she hovered over the duffle. "Looks like two of them have hatched already, Amu-chan."

"We've got to find them soon, desu," said the Green doll in a soft voice.

"Really?" said Maka. She threw me a quick glance—I knew just what she was thinking:

"_What the hell is going on here?"_

"_Yes_, really," said Amu. The urgency in her voice was causing her to sound squeaky. "There's no_ knowing_ what those little guys are up to unattended."

Amu tried to explain the whole 'chara' concept to us both—it wasn't getting quite through to my brain.

But then I felt something. A small little _pinging_ sensation came from the middle of my chest, right where my soul was.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed. Another look from Maka told me she had felt the same thing. It was then Amu's demeanor suddenly changed from fragile and naiive to crazy composed and somewhat battle-hardened. This surely wasn't a good sign either. Maybe I should sneak away? Cool guys don't _always_ have to look for trouble, right? RIGHT?

Wrong.

"Amu, do you sense that?" said the Blue Doll to Amu.

But then I head a terrible screeching noise, and above us a small black object zoomed from behind, coming to a stop right in front of Maka, Amu and myself. It was shaped like an egg from what I could tell, and a large white X was on the front of it.

"An X egg!" shouted Amu and her dolls.

"X egg" what an accurate description. I would have _never_ thought of _that _to name the object floating before us. Oh, look, the sarcasm detectors are broken.

"Impos-impossi-imossible," said the little egg in a warbly tone.

Maka held her hand out to me, staring at the strange sight before us. "Soul," she commanded, "transform!" Usually we only saw souls floating, if that at all, so it was even more shocking considering the Mind Screw of a morning that we had had.

Amu jumped in front of us instead, before I could change. "Wait, wait! I'll handle this." She tured to look at the dolls. "Miki!" she called, to which the Blue Doll perked up and said:

"Right, Amu-chan!"

And then there was a small glow of light from that necklace around Amu's neck that I hadn't really paid attention to much before.

_ "Atashi no kokoro_…unlock!" yelled the new student.

And promptly the Blue Doll, ('Miki' was her name, right?) disappeared.

Amu was suddenly dressed in a pretty se—I mean…_interesting_ outfit that made her look like one of those Parisian Artists. Sort of. Not exactly. It was what Maka would call… "kawaii".

"_Amulet Spade!" _Amu struck a ridiculous pose before facing the X egg with that same serious look as before.

"Woah," I heard myself mutter. "That was sorta cool."

And then there was an explosion of darkness. It streaked past Amu and it nearly hit Maka. Luckily I shoved her out of the way and ducked before it could blast me to bits. Meanwhile, Amu had somehow conjured this giant blue _paintbrush_ and was swinging it around. Giant globs of rainbow were flying everywhere, missing the X egg because it was too quick for her attacks. The egg would pause in the air at times to throw a few dark blasts our way, but for the most part Maka and I hid behind some columns.

"We've got to help," Maka told me, and she was right. What kind of people would we be if we didn't? Even if Amu seemed accustomed to fighting whatever weird opponent she was up against now. I transformed, (like I should have done earlier) and Maka charged into the battle, swinging me all over the place.

Unfortunately, the egg was still too fast.

Also, Amu wasn't amused at our efforts to help. "No," she cried, "don't destroy the X egg!"

"What?" I said. From where I sat in the Black Room, I couldn't help but frown. This chick was crazy. It looked evil, it attacked us, and she didn't want to destroy it?

Un-freaking-believable.

As if my day made no sense already.

"Just keep it busy until I can purify it," she explained. Holding the paintbrush and panting, Amu looked like she had been through Boot Camp. Sweat was pouring down her face, and I wasn't sure how long she would last without our help.

Maka (rudely I might add) used me to point to the subject of our conversation. "But how do you propose we do that?" she screeched. Good thing I don't have ears in my Weapon-Form or else I'd be in pain right now. But still, Maka had been pretty damn loud.

"Don't worry. I'll—," a blast had connected with Amu's stomach. She yelled out in surprise, but the attack also looked pretty painful. It was the longest I'd seen her stand still since her sudden 'transformation' and I wasn't surprised. She looked like she couldn't quite stand. I told Maka to move her ass before we got hit as well, but it didn't stop her from calling out Amu's name in concern.

"If I get hit like that again…" I heard the girl mutter. She was still on the ground, so the shock of the attack most likely had paralyzed her for a moment. I was about to tell Maka to go back and slice that egg to shreds before it hurt Amu anymore.

However, another flash of light blinded us just as another blast of darkness was headed toward Amu's defenseless state.

"Holy Crown!" I heard a high voice say.

It was so strange I couldn't even comprehend what had happened. There was this blonde kid standing in front of Amu that wasn't there moments ago.

"Tadase-kun?" Amu yelled. She had risen to her feet, but the shock in her voice was clear. She definitely knew who this mysterious person was.

"Sorry we're a little late," said the kid quickly, "ready for this?"

And then there was another little doll, chara, whatever.

"Hi Maka!" Before my Meister was a little girl in a leather jacket, blue shorts, and headphones. She had short brown hair and red eyes.

Maka stared at her in a daze. Sometimes she couldn't resist cute things, but this was ridiculous! In the middle of a battle no less…I wanted to slap my palm into my face, but no one could see it so there was no point.

"Are you…my chara?" she asked the little flying girl.

She nodded and winked. "Yup. Now Let's rock this party!"

"Tadase, you ready for this?" Amu seemed to have recovered a bit after being protected by this…was it a guy? I'm sorry, but for me it was hard to tell.

Well 'Tadase' seemed all too happy to nod back and turned to his own chara, which looked like a little prince-thing. "Let's go Kiseki." He made the same strange hand movements as Amu had minutes ago and yelled with authority: "_Boku no kokoro,_ unlock!"

A second later he was wearing a frilly prince outfit. It could have at least had a manly color, but instead it was a creamish-yellow.

_Huh_, I thought, _very campy._

Maka seemed to buy into the odd phenomenon that was happening this morning. She copied Tadase and whispered to herself "_Atai no kokoro_, unlock!" probably hoping she could do the same thing.

After a few blinding sparkles she was wearing her own outfit.

"_Rebel Spirit!" _echoed her voice, thought it probably was just my imagination.

"What— hey!" she yelled at full volume. My guess: she was probably surprised that it had worked at all.

Just to be funny I pointed out the obvious.

"Dude," I teased, "it happened to you too!"

Maka gave her usual huff of anger.

"I **know** Soul. "

I examined the outfit some more, looking her up and down through the blade in my scythe form. Not bad.

"Wow. Short shorts."

"Ha ha, laugh all you want."

I didn't want to laugh, actually. It looked really…uh…nice. Extra short shorts in black, a hooded jacket of the same color with one white stripe on the hood, and a shirt that showed most of her belly. Her hair wasn't in pigtails, but it was out and sort of ruffled looking, and she had one of those pop-star mouth-mics near her face. Not to mention this amazing red Alvarez guitar hanging from her shoulders from a guitar strap.

At this point I changed back into a human. Obviously the power-up faerie wasn't visiting me soon.

"What do I do?" she looked to where Amu and Tadase were keeping the thing busy.

"Call out the first thing that comes to mind," said Amu, "and attack with it!"

Bookworm takes too long to overthink things sometimes.

"Call out the first thing?" she said inquisitively, looking at her guitar.

In the corner of my eye I saw the egg change direction. My heart leapt into my mouth.

"Maka, it's coming this way!" a blast of darkness was barreling towards us and we didn't have time to run to somewhere safe.

We didn't have to. Maka calmed herself down and stepped in front of me. Her voice was deathly cold as she gave the guitar one violent strum.

"Defiant Chord."

* * *

. . .

Dark red streaks of lightning seemed to jump out of the guitar. They collided with the darkness and shattered the attack into little black splinters. Amu and Tadase looked on with a strange, frightened awe as they saw as the X egg seemed to leap back in surprise.

"Impossible~" it chimed sullenly, recoiling in fear.

A disembodied voice seemed to echo from the egg, other than the incessant chant of 'impossible.' A small, distressed voice that belonged to a certain Witch.

"No matter what, I get shunned!"

Soul seemed to pale at the thought. "Kim?" he said quietly. Was this whole episode Kim's doing? He looked to Maka to confirm his suspicion.

"That's Kim's voice alright."

For some reason Tadase narrowed his eyes at Soul and Maka. "She's your friend?"

"Yeah," said Maka. "She also happens to be a Witch too."

Horror and confusion flew across Amu's face. "I thought you guys_ hunted_ Witches here!"

"We do," Soul explained, "but Kim's an exception, her magic only heals things."

"Every time I try to fit in," continued Kim, "I never can! I can't do destructive magic, so Witches hate me. And humans hate me for being a Witch!"

Soul scoffed. She was going on about this? It had been an issue before, but why did it present itself now? Hadn't she and Ox resolved this at Baba Yaga's caslte?

"Come on Kim," said the scythe, "you know we care about you."

Maka merely stared at her partner for a bit. He sounded really assuring. This was rare.

"It's impossible! No one likes me." The egg seemed to have a tantrum in the air as Kim struggled with the concept of kindness. In this fractured state she could remember…something faint. It wasn't strong, but a small feeling had shone through her hypnosis.

At the statement Kim made, Maka frowned. Very unlike the Kim she knew to cast off everyone that was her friend. "You're wrong!" shouted Maka, her righteous anger fueling her voice to be able to reach Kim. "Ox loves you more than anything!"

Again the egg jumped back in surprise mid-air.

"Huh? But…" Kim trailed off guiltily and looked around. Where was she?

Nevertheless, Maka continued to scold her friend. "You're letting other people's thoughts hurt you. It's not like you, Kim."

Soul nodded in agreement and looked at the X-egg straight on. "Besides," said Soul in his best 'cool-guy is here to save you' voice. "It's their problem that they hate you, not yours. Show them you _demand_ respect."

Now, while they were distracting the X-egg, Tadase nudged Amu just when Soul had finished off the speech nicely. "Amu, here's our chance!"

She grinned. "Right." Amu pointed to the X-egg floating above Maka and Soul, glittery magic flooding the area all around her. "Negative Heart, Lock on!" Her hands formed a heart-shape and pointed at the X-egg. "Open Heart!"

Nearly everyone in the Academy could feel the surge of power that overwhelmed the campus. Especially Lord Death. In fact, he had been watching the entire ordeal from one of his mirrors the second he had sensed the slightest bit of magic. He watched with interest as the beam coming from Amu showered the X-egg in a brilliant light, cleansing off the darkness and causing it to return to its owner, Kim Diehl.

Lord Death smiled to himself behind his mask. That girl was invaluable.

"Who would've thought," he mused to himself. "Another practitioner of the Cleansing Wavelength."

Meanwhile, everyone had changed back into their original forms after the X-egg had left. Maka herself was blinking at Amu, who merely blushed at being stared at. What everyone had felt, that was certainly different. But Maka was now sure this girl had an exceptionally strong soul.

"So, what now?" asked Soul.

"I think we should check on Kim," said Maka. She ran off in search of the Meister, going in the same direction she had felt that the egg had left.

* * *

**. . .**

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Hopefully I can give you more chapters soon. **

**Next time, Amu goes on her first mission. Alone. Lord Death orders it, which is really odd for him to send a new student by herself. But, she does have a Weapon by next chapter, thanks to Tadase's arrival. (It'll be a surprise)**


End file.
